Adoption News

You might be interested to know that we are STILL not done with Allie's adoption paperwork.  We were surprised to find out how much more we had to do even after her "finalization" date in December.  We had to apply for her Social Security card, in which she had to be listed as a "resident alien" since at the time we applied we did not have proof of her citizenship.  We were supposed to get her Green Card shortly after she came home in June, but due to some fluke in Homeland Security we never got it.  It was nearly impossible to get through to anyone who could figure out her case; we finally, miraculously received it in the mail!  We can now go back and change her social security status.  We also received her Ohio Birth Certificate, which states that we are her parents but she was born in Korea.  Lately, we mailed our application for her Certificate of Citizenship.  This was a lengthly application which required copies of all her official paperwork and pictures of her... seems a little silly to have to prove who she is all over again!!  Once USCIS looks over our application, we'll be called in to their office for an interview!!  Hopefully at that point we'll finally get her Certificate of Citizenship and we can officially be done with jumping through all the paperwork hoops.  So these are what we consider her official paperwork:

• Korean Passport, which also has her Visa stamp on it
• Ohio Birth Certificate
• Adoption Decree (we received this from the court at her finalization in December)
• Social Security Card
• Green Card
• pending Certificate of Citizenship

All of this has got me thinking about her journey to us and how blessed we are to have her, paperwork and all.  Our agency no longer facilitates Korean Adoptions, she was in one of the last groups to come home.  We are so, so thankful for this little girl..  I finally figured out how to have her Homecoming Video permanently posted to the right of the blog; still makes me tear up!

Ben Turns SIX!!!

I can't believe my baby is SIX years old. He really seems like such a big guy now.  We spent the morning at the Rec Outlet playing, then he was so thrilled to bring treat bags to school that afternoon.  He is very in to his new Pogo Stick and anything Star Wars.  It's been a big year for him, I'm so proud of you Ben!

Allie's First Easter

Easter was pretty special this year with our little girl.  So very hard to remember that this time last year she was still in Korea and we were still just waiting and worrying about her.  Makes us even more thankful for the Easter holiday.

Sam & Ben's Birthday Party

To celebrate Sams 4th Bday and Ben's 6th Bday, we had a small mostly family party at the park.  Thankfully the weather cooperated and the kids got to run, eat cupcakes, and play kickball and baseball.  With birthdays only 10 days apart, we're going to milk these joint parties for as long as they'll let us!!  (Allie refused to get in any group pictures, but she was very into the ball game!)

Sam Turns 4!!!

I can't believe my little guy is FOUR!!!  Where has the time gone, he used to be the baby.  We celebrated the day with an Easter Egg Hunt, pizza, and lots of time on his new Razor scooter.  Whoo hoo!!

A Hiking We Will Go

We love taking the dogs and kids to Kelley's Nature Preserve to hike.  This was the first time we took Allie; in her usual up-for-anything fashion, she loved it.

Easy Winter

We had such an unusually warm winter, made it so much easier that we could get outside much more than usual!  Friday mornings were a big adventure (for me at least!)... all 3 kids had swim lessons at the same time, in 3 different classes.  I was in the pool with Allie... so when we were done, all 4 of us were wet, hungry and tired.  Not to mention we were on a tight schedule to get home for lunch and get Ben on the bus.  I have to admit, the kids did GREAT!  We found a routine that worked pretty well for getting everyone dried, dressed and out the door.  It may have involved some bribing and cookies, but hey, whatever works!

We spent a beautiful, warm day at the zoo and captured some great pictures.  We also celebrated Jeremy's 34th birthday!

Back Tracking

Ergh!  I've gotten so behind on blogging!  For some reason I've recently been feeling the "strain" of 3 kids now more than ever.  I guess it's because Allie now thinks she's a "big girl" and is in to absolutely everything!  She is nonstop movement, nonstop talking... I'm exhausted!  So in an attempt to catch up, here's some pics from the last couple months. 

Allie, Jeremy and I had the opportunity to go into Sam and Izzy's classroom to teach them about Korea. Sam was so proud to show off his sister and Izzy was thrilled to have her cousin there!

We took the kids on our  2nd annual visit to CoCo Keys Water Resort.  It is one of the boys' absolute favorite places to be.

The pics of Allie in the pink dress are from Valentine's Day, she loves dressing up!  And the boys ooh and ahh over her, it's so cute.

Allie and Evie got to play together again, it's so neat to watch them begin a friendship!